NORWICH – The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office is taking measures to hold its patrol division more accountable when deputies are behind the wheel.

The department is currently exploring possibilities of outfitting all vehicles in its fleet with a GPS device that would also monitor the drivers performance when on the road. The device would record the car’s computer data, including braking, speed, location, and time, and provide a detailed report that could be reviewed by department supervisors.

According to Chenango Sheriff Earnest Cutting, the device serves a two-fold purpose: hold drivers accountable and increase safety by monitoring the location of cars that are best suited to respond an emergency call.

“It’s something that we have been looking to do for years, but costs have been so high that we haven’t had funds available to do it,” said Cutting. “It would be helpful ... We could really see what’s going on and if the officer is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, if they’re speeding or being heavy on the brake, and if they’re in their assigned areas.”

While costs of the device far exceeded the department’s budget when it first considered buying the technology years ago, those costs have dropped significantly, said Cutting, to $25 per car per month. Given the department’s 25 vehicles, that comes to be $7,500 annually which the Sheriff would take from his equipment and maintenance budget.